Playground bid gets national focus

Students at Glen Lake Elementary School in Hopkins got a big boost in their efforts to build an inclusive playground, thanks to being featured on CBS TV’s On the Road news feature segment.

Glen Lake has a lot of students with physical disabilities, but no wheelchair merry-go-round, swings or any adaptive playground equipment, which really bothered the students in Betsy Julien's fifth grade class.

“It just didn't seem fair that some kids were just left out,” Wyatt Feucht said.

“They didn't look happy, and recess is about having fun,” said Rhys Riley.

So one day the students asked Julien why they couldn't just buy the equipment themselves.

“I said, ‘Do you know how much that costs?! It costs a lot of money,’” Julien said.

The students were undeterred at the thought of raising $300,000. They started collecting spare change, then held a bake

Pay Pact

From page 1 recounted having a recent hire quit after one shift, because the caregiving tasks were too difficult. Describing the many tasks care workers provide, she said, no one is coming in at $20 an hour to do the myriad of caregiver tasks.

“Nobody is coming in 2023 for $20 per hour to help adult men & women with disabilities to live quality, happy, lives,” Dub said. “Nobody. The wage goes up to $20 in 2025. Nobody will come today for $20 in 2023. The work ‘is too hard’ The work is ‘more than I can manage’.” sale, printed flyers and went door to door. Then they began cold-calling businesses and even got restaurants to donate a portion of their profits. This went on for months — until recently, when they finally hit their goal, with support from the Glen Lake Parent Teacher Organization.

Others disagree and praised the tentative agreement.

Tavona Johnson is a veteran home care worker from Austin, who served on the bargaining team. “Winning a wage scale makes me feel recognized, seen, heard, and shown some respect and appreciation for my chosen profession as a homecare worker by compensating me for my dedication in a way that is meaningful and can actually cause positive change in my life. I feel that together with the big wage floor increase, this new wage scale means that home care workers will be able to protect our own dignity and integrity by having the option to work our way out of poverty and maybe not having to work multiple jobs any more to make ends meet,” Johnson said.

Riley says it was overwhelming to know that their hard work finally led to a more inclusive playground. As for the students who'll benefit, they seemed to appreciate the effort almost more than the result.

“First time I set foot on this playground I'm probably going to start crying from seeing the effort that all the school has made,” said John Buettner, who uses a wheelchair.

After raising $300,000, the class set a new goal. They now hope to buy adaptive playground equipment for other schools in the Hopkins district. They are raising $900,000. Learn more at https://www. glenlakepto.org/glen-lake-accessibility-project

Highlights include:

• A $3.75 (25 percent) wage increase to $19 per hour for all workers in 2024

• An additional increase to $20 per hour (a 31 percent increase over the current wage floor) in 2025

• The establishment for the first time of a wage scale rewarding home care workers for their years of experience, bringing long-time caregivers up to as much as $22.50 per hour (a 48 percent increase over the current wage floor) in 2025 autism,” said Marcie Alvis Walker, creator of the website Black Coffee with White Friends. “Ashburn and Edwards' honest and unsentimental book will make you a better human being and, therefore, a better neighbor, better educator, better family member to autistic adults, autism parents, and the children who need us all to do better.”

Dr. Mona Delahooke, author of Beyond Behaviors, said, "This is the book I've been waiting for to recommend to parents and all childhood providers." Educators, professionals, physicians, and care workers will all gain new insights into supporting autistic children.

Edwards is an Anishinaabe woman from Onigamiinsing (Little Portage). Jules is a writer, gardener, accountant and disability justice advocate. She’s passionate about improving child safety and disability policy. Her background includes a 2020-21 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities fellowship, 2021-22 Association of University Centers on Disabilities

National Training Director Council fellowship, and being a 2022-23 Wilder Foundation Community Equity Program cohort member.

Some of her roles include co-founding Minnesota Autistic Alliance, working board member for the Minnesota Ombudsman for American Indian Families, and Chairperson of the Minnesota Autism Council.

Learn more about Edwards at https:// autistictyping.com/i-will-die-on-this-hill Ashburn is the mother of twins with autism. She is a graduate of the partners in policymaking course and is an activist in her home state of Virginia. Read more about her and her work at https:// notanautismmom.com/about/

• A one-time $1,000 retention bonus for any worker who has provided home care for six months or longer, beginning in July 2023

• A long overdue professionalization of the home care workforce through the establishment of an orientation program for new caregivers

Lauren Thompson, a home care client who was on the bargaining team, emphasized the importance of the contract for people who rely on home care services. “As someone who receives home care services, I am relieved and hopeful with this deal. I have been part of previous bargaining teams and the wage increases are at a level we have

Duluth’s Lighthouse center to move

The Lighthouse Center for Vital Living will move this summer into a more central, visible location in Duluth's downtown. The disability support services nonprofit will leave its West Duluth location and reopen at 309 W. First St. Mary Junnila, executive director of the Lighthouse, told the Duluth News-Tribune that the move has been serendipitous for the organization. The Lighthouse's current location was sold to a New York investment group last December, so the Lighthouse was no longer able to depend on rental income from other building tenants. In addition, Junnila said the organization's assistive technology library was growing too large for the 8,000-square-foot space to contain.

The Lighthouse's new building was donated to them by Landsmenn Energy Service, founders of Lake Superior Consulting. The building used to house Lake Superior Consulting until the engineering firm moved. Junnila said the 1908 building was recently remodeled, so